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Slayer (novel)
Slayer is the first book of the Slayer novel series. Written by Kiersten White, it was originally published on January 8, 2019 by Simon Pulse. Synopsis From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a brand-new series set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that introduces a new Slayer as she grapples with the responsibility of managing her incredible powers that she's just beginning to understand. Into every generation a Slayer is born… Nina and her twin sister, Artemis, are far from normal. It's hard to be when you grow up at the Watcher's Academy, which is a bit different from your average boarding school. Here teens are trained as guides for Slayers — girls gifted with supernatural strength to fight the forces of darkness. But while Nina's mother is a prominent member of the Watcher's Council, Nina has never embraced the violent Watcher lifestyle. Instead she follows her instincts to heal, carving out a place for herself as the school medic. Until the day Nina's life changes forever. Thanks to Buffy, the famous (and infamous) Slayer that Nina's father died protecting, Nina is not only the newest Chosen One — she's the last Slayer, ever. Period. As Nina hones her skills with her Watcher-in-training, Leo, there's plenty to keep her occupied: a monster fighting ring, a demon who eats happiness, a shadowy figure that keeps popping up in Nina's dreams… But it's not until bodies start turning up that Nina's new powers will truly be tested — because someone she loves might be next. One thing is clear: Being Chosen is easy. Making choices is hard."Slayer Book by Kiersten White". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved October 5, 2018. Continuity *The prologue takes place after The Origin, Part Two, as Merrick have just died defending Buffy from the vampire Lothos, in 1996. *The events of the story takes place in the beginning of Autumn 2006. *Some relatives of previously known characters are revealed, such as: **Athena, Artemis, and Helen are respectively the daughters and widow of Merrick Jamison-Smythe; **Jade is the daughter of agent Weatherby; **Imogen is the daughter of the late former Watcher Gwendolyn Post; **Wanda and Honora are aunt and cousin of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. *The events of Twilight taking over the Earth dimension, Buffy destroying the Seed of Wonder, and the end of magic (Last Gleaming, Part Four) are discussed and determined as taking place sixty-two days before this story. *Nina mentions the attack of the First Evil's followers against the Watchers Council, its headquarters exploding in "Never Leave Me". *Nina mentions historical events such as: **a book magically killing an entire roomful of Watchers in the fifteenth century; **a Merryweather preventing an octopus uprising in 1910. *Nina mentions her father's preference for guns, as he carried and used a pistol in The Origin, Part Two. *Jade had been in Scotland to keep tabs on Buffy and her Slayers at the Slayer Organization command center, the country where they maintained residence until Retreat, Part One. *Nina implies that both Sam Zabuto and Bernard Crowley have died killed by demons. *Cillian worries that the Government should be "taking initiative" about demons; unknowingly to him, the United States Government had indeed attempted to do so with the organization aptly named Initiative ("The Initiative"). *Rhys Zabuto describes Buffy having once died then resurrected, causing her and Kendra Young to be Slayers at the same time ("What's My Line? Part Two"). Nina corrects him that Buffy had died and resurrected also a second time ("Bargaining, Part One"). *Rhys mentions that Buffy used to be a cheerleader before she was a Slayer (The Origin, Part One). *Nina is considered the last Slayer to be called before the end of magic, activated at the last second possible (Last Gleaming, Part Four). *Nina recalls Gwen Post betraying the Watcher Council, tricking Slayers to acquire a powerful weapon, but dying in the end ("Revelations"). *Nina mentions Rupert Giles' death at the hands of Angel (Last Gleaming, Part Four). *Wesley having joined the Angel Investigations is mentioned as a failure that led him out of the Watchers society ("Parting Gifts"). *To begin their training, Bradford Smythe throws a knife at Nina expecting her to catch it, as her father had done with Buffy years before (The Origin, Part Two). *Bradford guesses D'Hoffryn was on Earth during the end of magic, which is confirmed in Welcome to the Team, Part Two. *Nina has once tried to read a Watcher project on Spike; in episode "Checkpoint", Lydia confessed she had written her thesis on him. *Nina rescues Cosmina Enescu from a demon fight club similar to the XXI, from episode "The Ring". *The ring announcer and Cosmina use the term zompire, as Xander coined in Freefall, Part Three. *Nina mentions Angel being able to access the Pergamum Codex and giving it to Giles ("Out of Mind, Out of Sight"). *Faith mentions having spent one year sleeping, in reference to her coma from episode "Graduation Day, Part Two" to "This Year's Girl". *Buffy complains about Kennedy being annoying; as example of this, Buffy had previously described that her rooting for Kennedy was an event so rare that it deserved "special consideration. And possibly a plaque." (Last Gleaming, Part Five). *Nina reflects on Buffy saving the world when she sacrificed Angel ("Becoming, Part Two"), jumped to her death ("The Gift"), closed a Hellmouth while defeating the First ("Chosen"), and refused to be part of Twilight (Twilight, Part Four). Appearances Individuals *Abrams *Angel *Cillian *Bernard Crowley *D'Hoffryn *Doug *Dracula *Cosmina Enescu *Arcturius the Farsighted *First Evil *Rupert Giles *Artemis Jamison-Smythe *Athena Jamison-Smythe *Helen Jamison-Smythe *Merrick Jamison-Smythe *Kennedy *Faith Lehane *Lothos *Maloker *Master *Merryweather *Pelly *Gwendolyn Post (Only voice in flashbacks) *Imogen Post *Sarah *Sean *Eve Silvera *Leo Silvera *Sineya *Harry Sirk *Bradford Smythe *George Smythe *Spike *Buffy Summers *Dawn Summers *Jade Weatherby *Robin Wood *Honora Wyndam-Pryce *Wanda Wyndam-Pryce *Wesley Wyndam-Pryce *Kendra Young *Crone Zabuto *Rhys Zabuto *Ruth Zabuto *Thea Zabuto Organizations and titles *Higher being *Lower Being *Order of Taraka *Potential Slayer *Shadowmen *Slayer *Slayer Organization *Watcher *Watchers Council **Watchers Council Special Operations Team *Witch Species *Demon **Abarimon **Chaos demon **Hellhound **Incubus **Leviathan demon **Loose-Skinned demon **Remora demon **Succubus **Unpellis demon **Vengeance demon **Unidentified telepath demons *Half-demon **Cambion *Human **Werewolf *Old One *Spirit *Vampire *Zombie *Zompire Events *Apocalypse *End of magic *Tento di Cruciamentum Locations *Dreamspace *Earth **Australia **Costa Rica **England ***London **Ireland ***Dublin ****Cosmina Enescu's apartment ****O'Hannigan Ironworks ****Hellmouth ****Naked Grains ***Shancoom ****Cillian's residence ****Cillian's magic/soda shop ****Watchers Academy **United States ***Los Angeles ***Cleveland ****Hellmouth ***Phoenix ****Jamison-Smythe residence ***San Francisco ****Golden Gate Bridge ***Sunnydale ****Hellmouth **Venezuela *Pylea Weapons and objects *''The Apocalypses of Arcturius the Farsighted'' *Cross *Glove of Myhnegon *Holy water *Seed of Wonder *''Seven Secrets of Successful Spirit Summoners'' *Slayer Handbook *Stake *Watchers Diaries Death count *An unidentified vampire, staked by Nina at the cemetery (in flashbacks). *Unidentified vampire, dusted by Leo by the Watchers Academy (in flashbacks). *A hellhound, neck snapped by Nina at the Watchers Academy. *Three zompires and one hellhound, slayed by Cosmina at the fight club. *A hellhound, shot by someone at the fight club. *Two zompires and two hellhounds, slayed by Nina at the fight club. *Two hellhounds and one zompire, electrocuted at the fight club. *A hellhound, shot by Leo at the fight club. *Unknown number of spectators, killed at the fight club. *Unidentified vampire, staked by Cosmina at the fight club. *Bradford Smythe, energy absorbed by Eve at the Watchers Academy. *Cosmina Enescu, energy absorbed by Eve in her own apartment. *Unidentified vampire, staked by Artemis. *Eve Silveira, crushed by the remora demon at Naked Grains. Behind the scenes Production *The original cover is an illustration by Alessandro Taini. The German edition was exceptionally illustrated by Alexander Kopainski. *The book was also released as a hardcover, audiobook, and e-book, all available on the same date. *Barnes & Noble released a limited collector's edition as well, containing "an exclusive slayer dream sequence short story from the perspective of Faith," available on the same date as the other editions."Slayer (B&N Exclusive Edition) (Slayer Series #1) by Kiersten White". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved November 7, 2018‎. *In an interview, Kiersten White revealed that Wanda and Honora Wyndam-Pryce were Wesley's aunt and cousin, respectively."AMA IS LIVE! Kiersten White, author of new Buffy novel 'Slayer', asking your questions!". Reddit, January 24, 2019. Distribution *''Slayer'' debuted as the eighth best seller book in its publishing week, among young adult hardcovers."Young Adult Hardcover Books". The New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2019. Pop culture references *Nina compares orange fingerprints to those left while eating Cheetos cheese puffs. *Cillian mentions the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. *Doug wears a Coldplay band shirt. Nina notices the coincidence of his skin color with their song "Yellow" (2000), and he comments his interest on feeding from lead singer Chris Martin's emotions. *Cillian's mother has Bibles, a Book of Mormon, and L. Ron Hubbard novels on her bookshelves. *Nina compares Cillian's father with actor Orlando Bloom. *The hunter watches the film Titanic in VHS, released in 1998. *Nina dreams of Buffy on the Golden Gate Bridge. *Nina received DVDs of medical series ER (1994–2009) and Chicago Hope (1994–2000). *The Watchers Academy has a Land Rover Range Rover SUV available for transport. *Cillian finds Cosmina via Facebook online social media, widely available since 2006. *Cillian brings a basket of Coke. *Nina reflects on her and her sister having the names of Athena and Artemis from the Greek mythology. *Thinking of matching names for twins, Cillian, Rhys, and Leo exemplify with Sonny and Cher, Jane and Austen, and Meryl and Streep. *Nina mentions the antiseptic mouthwash brand Listerine. *Ruth considers selling books on eBay. *Leo quotes William Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 3 (1591). *Cillian and Doug discuss the Eurovision song competition. *Cillian sings "I Will Always Love You" (1974). *Doug reads a book by romance novelist Nicholas Sparks. *Leo pulls the real book Joseph Lister and the Story of Antiseptics (2004) and mentions the Surgeons' Hall highlighting Joseph Lister's work. *Rhys compares the band Incubus to the demon of same name. International titles *'German:' Slayer: Das Erbe der Jägerin (Slayer: The Heritage of the Slayer) *'Portuguese (Brazil):' Caçadora (Slayer) *'Russian:' Истребительница Вампиров (Vampire Slayer) *'Spanish:' La Última Cazadora (The Last Slayer) Other *In Chapter 4, while venturing in the closed areas of the castle, Nina notices a mushroom-print shirt and a stuffed rabbit. These are likely cameo references to Xander and Anya, more specifically his clothing in "The Harvest and her fright with a plush bunny in "The Gift". Gallery Slayer cover art.jpg|Cover artwork Slayer cover BR.jpg|Cover in Brazil Slayer cover GE.jpg|Cover in Germany Slayer cover RU.jpg|Cover in Russia Slayer cover SP.jpg|Cover in Spain References fr:Slayer (livre) pt-br:Caçadora (livro) Category:Buffy novels